FAQs

Shares in each of our listed investment companies (LICs) are quoted and traded on the ASX. To become a shareholder, you can simply buy shares in any of our eight LICs through a stockbroker, financial adviser, wrap or trading platform. For further information on how to invest please visit our website here.

Wilson Asset Management’s nine LICs are listed below. Please see our Guide to Listed Investment Companies which covers the benefits of the listed investment company structure.

WAM Capital (ASX: WAM)
WAM Leaders (ASX: WLE)
WAM Global (ASX: WGB)
WAM Microcap (ASX: WMI)
WAM Alternative Assets (ASX: WMA)
WAM Income Maximiser (ASX: WMX)
WAM Strategic Value (ASX: WAR)
WAM Research (ASX: WAX)
WAM Active (ASX: WAA)

Wilson Asset Management provides a diversified portfolio offering across our eight listed investment companies (LICs) which invests in:

Australian small-to-mid cap equities

• • WAM Research provides investors with access to a research-driven process focused on identifying undervalued growth companies.
  • WAM Capital provides investors with both a research-driven process and a market-driven process that takes advantage of mispricing opportunities.

Australian large-cap equities

• • WAM Leaders provides investors with exposure to an active investment process focused on identifying large-cap companies with compelling fundamentals, a robust macroeconomic thematic and a catalyst.

Global small-to-mid cap equities

• • WAM Global provides investors with exposure to an actively managed diversified portfolio of undervalued international growth companies and exposure to market mispricing opportunities.

Alternative assets

• • WAM Alternative Assets provides retail investors with exposure to a portfolio of real assets, private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private debt strategies.

Discounted asset opportunities

• • WAM Strategic Value capitalises on share price discounts to underlying asset values of listed companies, primarily listed investment companies (LICs) and listed investment trusts (LITs) (commonly referred to as closed-end funds).

Australian micro-cap equities

• • WAM Microcap provides investors access to a portfolio of undervalued micro-cap growth companies with a market capitalisation of less than $300 million at the time of acquisition.

Mispricing opportunities

• • WAM Active provides investors with exposure to an active trading style with the aim of achieving a sound return with a low correlation to traditional markets.

Monthly income and capital growth

• WAM Income Maximiser aims to provide monthly franked dividends and capital growth to shareholders by investing in Australia’s highest quality companies and corporate debt instruments.

WAM Alternative Assets (ASX: WMA) is the only listed investment company on the ASX that offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of alternative assets, typically accessible only by institutional investors. The Company provides investors a unique investment solution, complementary to their traditional investment portfolios by investing in alternative assets. The Company’s investment objectives are to consistently deliver absolute returns through a combination of dividend yield and capital growth, while providing diversification benefits.

WAM Alternative Assets provides retail investors with exposure to a portfolio of real assets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt strategies.

Shares in each of our LICs are listed on the ASX. To purchase shares from New Zealand, you would need to purchase shares through a stockbroker that deals on the ASX. Most New Zealand brokers will be able to do this or have an Australian affiliate who can trade on their behalf.

If you are interested in investing on behalf of your children or grandchildren you can buy Wilson Asset Management shares through a stockbroker, financial adviser, wrap or trading platform. If you are purchasing shares on behalf of a minor, an adult would need to open an account in their own name and act as a trustee to the minor. Once the minor turns 18, the shares can be transferred into an account in their name.

Wilson Asset Management is the investment manager for two unlisted funds: Wilson Asset Management Leaders Fund and Wilson Asset Management Founders Fund. Unlisted trusts are open-ended investment structures where the asset value can fluctuate based on portfolio performance, cash distributions and capital inflows or redemptions. Unlike listed investments, unlisted trusts are not traded on the ASX. Instead, investors can apply for units directly or redeem their investment at the end of each month.

Dividend statements are posted or emailed to you based on your communication preference that have been saved against your holdings. You can access any of your historical dividend statements or change your communication preference via your InvestorServe account. Or alternatively please email or call the share registry Boardroom Limited at [email protected] or 1300 420 372 to reissue your dividend statements.

Wilson Asset Management does not issue annual tax statements however the information required for your tax return can be located on your dividend statements.

All our listed investment companies offer a dividend reinvestment plan which provides a convenient way for shareholders to manage their investment and can act as regular contributions to an individual’s holding. You can elect to participate in a partial or full capacity.

To apply for the DRP, please follow either of the below instructions:

You can manage this directly via Boardroom’s InvestorServe platform. A copy of the Dividend Reinvestment Plan can be found on the left-hand menu under the ‘Payment Instructions’ > ‘Reinvestment & Donations’.

Alternatively, you can email [email protected] or call 1300 420 372 and request a form. You will need to complete these and send them back to Boardroom Limited to process for your holdings.

Please refer to the Dividend Reinvestment Plan rules for each LIC:

WAM Capital
WAM Leaders
WAM Global
WAM Microcap
WAM Alternative Assets
WAM Strategic Value
WAM Research
WAM Active

If your holding is under a Security Reference Number (SRN) please follow the below instructions:

• As your holdings are issuer sponsored you can update your email address, postal address or any further details directly via InvestorServe or by emailing the share registry Boardroom Limited at [email protected].

If your holding is under a Holding Identification Number (HIN) please follow the below instructions:

• As your holdings are registered with a stockbroker you will need to update your postal address with the sponsoring broker. Once this has been updated this will then flow through to our share registry Boardroom Limited.
• If you are updating your email address and you are on the Wilson Asset Management mailing list please email at [email protected] and provide your old and new email address.

SRN is a Security Reference Number which means that your shares are issuer sponsored and managed by a share registry.

HIN is a Holder Identification Number which means that your shares are registered with a stockbroker.

Wilson Asset Management does not issue annual tax statements however the information required for your tax return can be located on your dividend statements. The only tax component required to complete your tax return for the receipt of dividends from your holdings in LICs is the dividend income and franking credits that have been paid to shareholders. We recommend seeking professional taxation advice if you require further information for your own personal circumstances.

To transfer your shares, you will need to complete a transfer form, this can be downloaded via InvestorServe or alternatively you can reach out to Boardroom Limited to request these forms at [email protected].

Listed investment companies do not have set reporting calendar dates for interim or full year results in the same manner as operating companies on the ASX do. We will announce the interim results with any dividend announcements by the end of February and the full year results with any dividend announcements by the end of August, in line with requirements from the ASX.

We announce the monthly NTAs for each of our LICs on or before the 14th of each month. We announce this on a monthly basis to allow for a long-term outlook for investors.

We recommend reading our monthly Investment Update and NTAs that are emailed to shareholders and are also located on our website. These documents outline information on the dividends, including full year dividend, yields and profits reserve. Additional information on the portfolio, portfolio positioning and the top 20 holdings are also generally included. This is a great place to start learning more about our LICs.

We have found three key measures crucial to the evaluation of a LIC’s performance:

1. Investment portfolio performance
2. Net tangible asset growth
3. Total shareholder return

Investment portfolio performance measures the growth of the underlying investment portfolio and enables a shareholder to assess whether an active manager can outperform on a like-for-like basis with the benchmark, before expenses, fees and taxes.

NTA growth demonstrates the change in the Company’s assets, less liabilities and costs. The NTA growth includes dividends paid to shareholders and tax paid (franking credits), demonstrates the value of the investment portfolio performance and quantifies the impact of capital management decisions (for example, dividends paid, options exercised, new shares issued at a premium or discount to NTA) under the direction of the LIC’s Board of Directors, which can increase or decrease the value of a LIC’s NTA separate to the performance of the investment portfolio. The franking credits generated by corporate tax payments, which reduces a LIC’s pre-tax NTA when the cash outflow is paid, are available for distribution to shareholders through fully franked dividends.

Total shareholder return measures the tangible value gained by the shareholding measured by share price growth and dividends paid over the period, before and after the value of any franking credits distributed to shareholders through franked dividends.

A LIC can trade at a premium or discount to its underlying value, or its NTA. This is because LICs are closed-end funds with a fixed amount of capital, and investors can only buy its shares from an existing shareholder that is willing to sell. This means a LIC’s share price is determined by the forces of supply and demand. As a result, a LIC’s share price can deviate from the value of its NTA.

The profits reserve is made up of amounts transferred from current and retained earnings that are preserved for future dividend payments. The profits reserve is an accounting entry only that quarantines the profits of the LIC for future dividend payments. Current and retained earnings are generated by the company as a result of the performance of the investment portfolio, after expenses, fees and taxes. Within the balance sheet, this sits within the ‘equity’ of the company, along with shareholder capital which has been invested by shareholders.

The profits reserve is more of an accounting concept, you may have heard the phrase ‘retained earnings’ before – the profits reserve of the company is broadly the same thing and crucially represents the future franked dividend paying capacity. We separate the earnings of the company into the profits reserve to preserve these profits for future fully franked dividend payments to shareholders.

On and after the ex-dividend date, the LIC’s share price typically falls by approximately the amount of the upcoming dividend plus franking credits, as shareholders purchasing from this date are not entitled to the upcoming dividend.